Bruins beat the Panthers 6-1

Leafs get a second win on the bounce against the Rangers, winning 2-1 in a shootout

Brodeur returns to the ice after a 4 month injury lay off against the Av's and gets the perfect start with a shut out as the Devils down the Av's 4-0.

Be very interesting to see if he comes back with a really strong run between the pipes after being out for so long and being fresh for the remainder of the season.

The viewers once again voted for the wrong game to show on ESPNAmerica last night going for the 6-0 thrashing by the Bruins against the Ducks while the game I voted for (Sabres/Hurricanes in a battle for the last playoff place in the east) went to a shootoput.

Leafs go into overtime for the sixth time on the bounce, Pavel Kubina scoring twice, including the winner, in a 4-3 win over the Sens

Im used to enjoy watching Don Cherry on HNIC now i'm sick of him calling out the european players.Last night he calls Toronto for not drafting canadians but where is Luke Schenn from?

Then he says he doesn't like the way Ovechkin celebrates scoring a goal,yes Don lets not have a bit of passion in the game.He's just jelous that the best hockey player in the world isn't "a good canadian boy"

After the first game he calls Detroit boring to watch because they don't fight and says thats why they don't sell out.Someone should teel him Datsyuk and Zetterberg are 2 of the most skillful players in the league and are great to watch and maybe the lack of sellouts in Detroit is the fact that it's the centre of the motor industry in the US which has been hit harder that most things in during the credit crunch You could see Ron squirming at the side of him while he was saying all this.I don't know how he puts up with it every week.

I thought there was something wrong with my ears when I heard him say that

Mind you, I also thought there was something wrong with my eyes when I saw the result of the Predators-Wings game!

Grapes has always been anti european since the numbers in the NHL started to increase and Sweden & Finland beating the USA and Team Canada at international levels. In some ways I do understand what he says as its taken the game away from the traditional North American style and brought a more skillful aspect to the game but also its allowed less opportuntiy for home grown players. This is a point he ahs made many times and also eludes to the fact this is why Team Canada & USA have struggled at world championships etc as franchises are now bringing in Europeans instead of nuturing talent. Bit like the Premier League in football and the England team.

When the europeans first started to get drafted they didnt fair well as they were simply not physical enough to cope with the NHL but over the years the players are much more physical and have adapted well to life in the NHL. Sometimes you have to look through the bull that Grapes spouts to understand what he means as quite often he is controversial to get the subject out in the open, whilst having a dig at team owners & NHL Commitee.

I see that Sean Avery has now been placed on Re entry waivers so whos money is on him returning to the Rangers as Sather seems to be pulling all the strings.

Speaking to a friend from over the pond a while ago I asked about attendances at the Joe Louis (who regularly attends their games) and why they don't sell out, he did say that lack of physical play was a problem for Detroit as although they are a great team and successful alot of fans want to see the physical side of the game and this is one of the reasons they dont sell out plus now as you state the financial aspect is taking its toll.

To be fair this was also something that the Blackhawks realised and even Rocky Wirtz mentioned when he took over that fans want to see great hockey but also the physical side.

Leafs go to OT yet again, this time going down 3-2 to the Devils.

Hawks beat the Ducks 3-2 in OT at the United

Good. I don't like the Ducks

Trade deadline day today for the NHL and the 1st trade is Columbus trading N/M Pascal Leclaire for Senators forward Vermette.

You weren't wrong

Bruins acquired defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Petteri Nokelainen and aslo added Mark Recchi and a second round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums